Lookus (루커스) : Lookus

I’ve seen a few videos of Lookus on YouTube and considered the band a good rock group. When I started listening to Lookus, I was able to appreciate more of their music. The release is a combination of two EPs and there’s definitely a difference between the two. The first is more melodic rock while the second is much more aggressive.

The first “CD” is a polished and melodic six song set. The first song “Good Bye” featuring Kwon Tae-Yeon is a song that starts mellow and low key until it gets near the end of the song. Then you get a huge almost operatic crescendo. That flows into “기억해” which uses a similar arrangement, but presents its energy after the short introduction. There’s an aged tone to Lookus’ sound on the first CD. It’s straight forward melodic rock with big verses and chorus. There is a break with “악몽.” It’s a melancholy themed song with a focus on vocals. The overall melodic pop rock style continues to the end.

But the start of CD 2 is “Get Off,” which doesn’t sound like anything on the first CD. The tempo is like 60 beats faster than anything on CD 1. It’s a big change, but the energy is more addictive. I thought the style would continue, but “Hello” is a pop rock song that is focused on a brighter sound even though the song is full of distortion and crash cymbals. CD 2’s last couple songs bridge between the two parts of the release. It’s not entirely melodic rock or pop rock. Splitting the release into two parts made me think there would be two separate themes, but with a different order of songs, Lookus could have been 11 straight songs.

I liked Lookus because it has a recognizable and somewhat “classic” rock sound. It’s not over the top all the time and the melodies are some of the strongest that I’ve heard before. You may not hear anything new or different by Lookus, but their self titled release hits all the right marks to be a solid album.